‘Daniel’s Law’ petition shunned after probe into abuse tragedy

A serious case review highlighted how chances were missed by child protection agencies to intervene in the case of Daniel Pelka.

The youngster, from Coventry, died from a head injury in March 2012 after suffering months of cruelty at the hands of Magdelena Luczak and former soldier Mariusz Krezolek.

The review found Daniel was at times rendered “invisible” in the eyes of health professionals, school staff and social workers in the presence of the couple, who “misled and deceived” a host of child protection agencies by spinning a “web of lies”.

A petition calling for all those working with children to be under a mandatory responsibility to report any suspicion of child abuse – known as “Daniel’s Law” – has attracted 50,000 signatures.

But Children and Families Minister Edward Timpson said mandatory reporting was “not the answer”. He ruled out Government support for any new legislation, and has instead written to the safeguarding children board in Coventry urging it to “dig deeper” into the reasons why mistakes were made.

He said: “Guidance is already crystal clear that professionals should refer immediately to social care when they are concerned about a child.”

David Tucker, of the NSPCC, said: “Sadly, more reporting and more legislation would not, in our opinion, have saved Daniel Pelka.

“What he needed was someone to see the bigger picture and take decisive action to protect him.

“We want to see a system where all professionals working with children have the correct training to spot abuse and not only follow process and procedures, but most crucially take decisive action as necessary when they are concerned a child is suffering abuse.”